Brian’s back in Scotland but says ‘Hello’ to Pembrokeshire football fans

In the late 1970s and 80s a new footballer arrived on the Pembrokeshire scene who made an immediate impact with his special ability to score goals. His name was Brian Cutler and he found the net for Camrose, Merlins Bridge, Haverfordwest County and Pembroke Borough.
We were delighted to discover that Brian still keeps in touch with all the news from the Pembrokeshire sporting scene via our web-site – and even more delighted when he agreed to feature this month in our ‘Where are they now?’ section.

Idyllic setting

Brian has been living with his wife Barbara in Argyllshire, on the west coast of Scotland, for the last fifteen years after moving from Cardiff to live and work on a large private estate. The Cutlers have two dogs, Danna and Haggis, and now enjoy the rural life by the sea, looking out to the Inner Hebrides – the islands of Islay and Jura. All very different from where Brian was born in Linlithgow just outside Edinburgh. He is now just recovering after being hospitalised by a serious bout of diabetes at the end of last year but is back on track and trying to get his fitness back through playing some golf and walking in this lovely area. Football is still his passion and this season he has travelled to see Manchester United, Real Madrid in Spain and FC Porto in Portugal.

West Lothian start

Brian’s football career started when he played for West Lothian County Schoolboys and on leaving school he signed for Heart of Midlothian’s Tynecastle Boys Club – a team that produced many top pros, and later signed semi-pro for Scottish Junior side Armadale Thistle. This side also produced another Linlithgow boy, Colin Stein, who went on to play for Hibs, Glasgow Rangers and Scotland. Colin scored for Rangers in the 1972 Cup Winners Final at the NouCamp, Barcelona, in their 3-2 win over Dynamo Moscow. Colin was Brian’s footballing hero and he still enjoys an occasional pint with him today.

‘Ashy’ started him off

Brian moved to Pembrokeshire when he worked for BT in the mid seventies and did not play any football for a year or so until he was asked by Mark Ashman, a young 15 year old up and coming goalkeeper, to come along to training with Camrose AFC. Mark and Brian continued to play together for years and in Brian’s first season, Camrose won the third division with players like Derek Watts, George Barrah, Martin and Roger Matthias, Stephen Goddard and David Vaughan. In those days the changing rooms were a couple of caravans and a tin bath! What changed days now as they have a great set up. Brian says,
“I always knew Camrose would do well as they were a well organised club with good people and a good side to play for.
He was top scorer that season with 35 goals (and 45 goals the next) as people sat up and took notice of this goal-grabbing Scot.

Wizard start

Merlins Bridge showed an interest and Brian signed for them in 1978 season. The Bridge went on to win the First Division and Senior Cup in 1978-79 and 1979-80. Brian scored the winning goal in the Bridge’s 1-0 hard fought Senior Cup final win over Kilgetty at Marble Hall and two goals in the 5-0 victory over St Clears the following season. The Kilgetty game could have gone either way but the Bridge defence with Mark Ashman, Tally John, Billy West, Derek Roberts, and Robert Taylor were solid against the serious threat from Kilgetty’s Graham Jenkins and Alan Brindley. Other goals in the St Clears’ match were scored by Micky Ellis (2) and Dekker Thomas.
Brian would say that Mark Ashman was a cracking goalkeeper who blocked up the goal whilst he scored at the other end – but again the compliment is returned since Ashy says of Brian,
“He was without doubt the best goal scorer I played with. He was quick, had two good feet and was deceptively good in the air. I always said I would much rather play with him than against him. He was also a smashing bloke off the pitch – a great friend to have.”

Ten goals – in one match!

In one match against MHPC the Bridge won 17-1 and Brian scored 10 of them. Mackie Bowen and Mickey Ellis ripped their defence apart that day with the brilliant Dekker Thomas and Mario Rabaiotti superb in the middle, and Brian says he had the easy bit of slotting them home. He won the Guardian Newspaper Cup in 1979 for top scorer with 44 league goals, 56 goals for the season. The Bridge success was also down to the management team there – the excellent coach in Lenny Kellett, Rod Jones and Gus Ellis. Gus was a fantastic man and kept up the team morale constantly with his great sense of humour.

Welsh League football

Brian also had a short spell with Haverfordwest County, playing in the same side as local boy Paul Phillips, Welsh international Ronnie Rees and John Allchurch. Pembroke Borough manager Des Shanklin then asked Brian to sign for the Borough in 1980 and he had two seasons with them, scoring regular goals, including four in one game against Cardiff City with the other two goals by Mickey Ellis in a 6-1 victory. Other great memories include winning the West Wales Senior Cup with the Borough in 1980-81 with a win over a strong Swansea City side in the semi final and a 2-1 victory over Haverfordwest County at Marble Hall. This was a cup the Borough were not fancied to win but with a side including local players like Gerald Hicks, Martin Cole, Simon Clarke and Mickey Ellis it was a great cup win. Brian believes the win was well deserved for manager Des Shanklin, a great football man and a great person. Brian was pleased on our web-site to see that Des is still going strong and receiving all the accolades he deserves but it seems that the feeling is mutual because Des has this to say of Brian,
“I regard Brian as one of the best signings I made at London Road because he fitted in so well with the local lads and had that nose for goals only special centre forwards had. If he was playing today I’m sure he would really make a name for himself at a higher level.”

Most Memorable Match

Undoubtedly the most memorable match that Brian played in was the 1978-79 West Wales Inter-League Cup Final at Ammanford where the Pembrokeshire League 6 – Swansea League 3 was the scoreline after extra time. Pembrokeshire were trailing 3-0 after 35 minutes, looked down and out but Brian reduced the arrears to 3-1, Mickey Ellis scored a second with a vicious shot from just inside the box and with two minutes to go Brian got a great ball from Gerald Hicks to score and send the match into extra time. In that period Pembrokeshire turned the game around – Stuart Wilson scored a fourth and Gerald Hicks added another two to make it 6-3. Captain Mario Rabaiotti picked up the cup for Pembrokeshire League’s first West Wales Cup victory. All the lads were rightly delighted!

Coming back soon!

Brian enjoyed his time playing in Pembrokeshire and still looks out weekly for the results of Camrose, Merlins Bridge, and Haverfordwest County. After leaving Pembrokeshire, he played for the Civil Service in Cardiff for a few seasons but after a leg break decided to finish playing regular football. Brian has not been back to Pembrokeshire for a few years but he loves keeping in touch - and he is hoping to be back this year for young Dekker Thomas’s special birthday do!